


Hawke and Her Father

by ChromeEdwardian



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Angst, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Red Hawke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 14:39:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4483178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromeEdwardian/pseuds/ChromeEdwardian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Malcolm has been dead for over a decade now, but his influence still affects Hawke. A collection of one-shots about my Hawke's formative years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hawke and Her Father

Matilda shifted to turn out of the sun while she worked on the family's plow. It had been broken for a week now, and finally her mother had fussed enough to get her to do it. She was almost done now, tightening the bolts and testing the blade with the tip of her finger. 

Out at the barn, she could hear Carver and Bethany doing their chores. "If I had magic, I'd be done just as quickly!" Carver moaned. "That just means I have more of them to do," Bethany said. The thump of hay thrown into the loft.

Matilda's eyes drifted from the plow to their fields, and then to Lothering proper. Just about now, they'd be dismissing students from the Chantry school, and then the twins would be free to run off and play with them. Matilda wasn't so lucky. As the oldest, seventeen years old, she had responsibilities that were more important than playing with friends. Not that she had any.

Father was standing in her light, taking in the progress she had made.

"Can you move?" Matilda asked. "I'm almost done."

But instead of moving, Father offered his hand to pull her up. "Come with me."

"Yes, sir." She left the plow where it was, and where Mother would almost certainly stumble over it later tonight, and followed after him. He was taking her into the fields. They had always made Matilda feel a little lost. She didn't like going out into the field much unless they were harvesting, and then she could see their house again, and everything was much better. But right now, the crops were hardly higher than her knees, and her father was with her, so she felt safe.

"Where are we going?" Matilda called to him as she ran to keep up. Her father came to a stop up ahead and looked down at his feet. He put his staff to the side and knelt down into the crops. Slowing down as she neared, Matilda craned her neck, trying to see what Father was looking at. And then she heard a yelp.

In her father's hands, was a tiny mabari puppy. It looked like it was only a few days old. She knelt beside her father and felt the warmth emanating from his hands to comfort the thing. "It's so small," she marveled.

Father nodded. "I found a dead mabari near the edge of the property a few days ago. Female. I suspected she might have had some pups lying around."

"Because it's spring," Matilda said, understanding her father's reasoning. She reached out to stroke the puppy's head, but paused midway and looked to her father for permission. 

"Go ahead," he said, handing it to her. The puppy started to whine at the lack of warmth, but Matilda held it to her chest, and it calmed again.

"It's yours to take care of if you're up to it," Father said, standing. "But let's make a few things clear."

Matilda adjusted her weight and stood up with him. The puppy had a small warmth of its own, and she could hear its tiny nose sniffing around at the new friends it had just made. "Okay."

"You and the twins are responsible for taking care of it. Your mother and I will not help you, except in emergencies. It's not just your dog either. You and Bethany and Carver will have to share, and if I hear anyone fighting over whose turn it is to play with the dog, I will have him sent away. Understand?"

"Yes, Father," Matilda said. She worried for a minute if her father was going to inform the twins of these parameters. She certainly wasn't going to lose this dog because of what some dumb eleven-year-olds did. "Do I at least get to name it?" She pulled the puppy away from her chest for a moment to check the sex. "Him?"

"I don't see why not." 

By this time, they were back at the farmhouse, the smell of Mother's dinner cooking floating on the air. Father went over to the barn to find food and bedding for their new pet, and Matilda ran into the house and into her room to lay the puppy out on her bed. He was old enough that his eyes were open and he was able to walk clumsily over her bed, but still too young to do much else She took two fingers and stroked them over the length of his brown coat. 

"A mabari..." she mused. Wouldn't everyone in the village be jealous. She knew about the intelligence of the breed. Maybe this one would end up being the friend she always wanted. But what did one name a puppy who would grow into a large muscular dog? She tried a few names out: Cow, Malcolm the Second, Killer. None fit. She hadn't ever had to name something before. The dairy cows were all named either by Mother or Bethany. But as she thought more, she decided to call him Regent. Because he was a noble beast, and it sounded better than anything else she could come up with. Her peers wouldn't laugh at the name either. That was always a good thing.

She said the name over and over again while the puppy explored her room, and by the time the twins got back and kicked down her door to see the new addition to the family, it was settled.


End file.
